Toxicology

Clinical and Forensic

The toxicology laboratory has provided clinical, emergency and forensic toxicology, ethanol and other volatiles testing, therapeutic drug monitoring, and medical legal services for the past 31 years. Formally established in 1970 to support the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office, the laboratory now supports 8 medical examiners or coroners offices in a five state region. The laboratory provides drugs of abuse testing for city, county, and state agencies, public and private industry, several emergency departments in the Twin Cities, athletic teams, half way houses, correctional facilities and drug courts. The laboratory also provides adult and pediatric lead screening programs.

Toxicology Technical Staff
The technical staff are highly trained, with degrees in medical technology or biology and are certified by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists as Medical Technologists and the National Credentialing Agency, Inc. as Clinical Laboratory Scientists

Accreditation

The Toxicology Laboratory is certified by the College of American Pathologists for both the general lab and the Forensic Urine Drug Testing and the State of Minnesota for drug testing in the workplace. They participate in College of American Pathologists proficiency testing in general toxicology and Forensic Urine Drug Testing. In addition, the laboratory is certified by the American Board of Forensic Toxicology, meeting the standards acceptable to the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) to provide forensic toxicology testing for the medical examiner and coroners offices.

Services

The Toxicology laboratory provides a 24/7/365 full menu of services, from the chain of custody specimen collection, secure transportation of specimens to the laboratory, drug screening, and confirmation analytical services, verification of results by board-certified scientists, and confidential reporting of findings. Specimens are collected daily for non-DOT collections only. All testing is performed on-site. The following reviews the comprehensive services provided.

The Toxicology Laboratory provides the following services:

Urine tests for drugs of abuse, including amphetamine, barbiturates, benzodiazepines (such as Valium, Xanax), ecstasy (MDMA), cocaine, heroin (6-MAM), LSD, marijuana (THC), methadone, opiates including oxycodone, phencyclidine or “angel dust”, propoxyphene, or any combination of these or other substances. Confirmation of presumptive positive screening results by GC/MS or LC/MS/MS.

Secure, certified testing facility, including specimen storage and record storage, to ensure confidentiality.

Quality control measures and proficiency testing for staff.

Computerized reporting and billing.

Competitive rates for professional services.

Toxicology Laboratory Education

The toxicology laboratory has provided educational opportunities and teaching expertise for since 1982.

Post-Graduate
Since 1982 the laboratory has trained over 80 laboratory medicine and pathology medical residents from both the Hennepin County Medical Center's and the University of Minnesota's residency programs, over 20 Forensic Pathology Fellows affiliated with the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office, and 13 PhD Postdoctoral Scientists affiliated with the University of Minnesota's Clinical Chemistry Fellowship Program, under the direction of Dr. Apple.

Undergraduate Level
Over 100 students from both the Schools of Medical Technology and Medical Laboratory Technicians have gained training towards their baccalaureate degrees in clinical and forensic toxicology.